Here we are in the grand old southern city of Atlanta for ACC Atlanta. It’s the first day of three, and thus far the show has gone slightly better than I expected. Not that I had any major expectations, but the crowd has been fairly good, and we have been well received.

I’m happy with the look of the booth, though I will admit I find myself missing the larger booth we had in Baltimore.

In some ways this 10′ x 10′ feels more enclosed after having the 20′ x 5′, but we’ve been told by many visitors that it feels very inviting and open, so that’s good.

Besides, how else am I supposed to pass the idle time at shows other than finding the smallest things to obsess over?

I suppose I could work on my memoirs…if only I were an interesting read. I think if I were a TV series I’d have to cancel myself.

We had a great time at the Handmade Market this past weekend-thanks so much to all of you who made it out.

Here are some quick shots of the show

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Along with a shot of our booth

The space was wonderful for a show like this, and set-up and tear down couldn’t have been any easier. As always it was a great show, and I want to give a big shout out to all of the lovely Handmaidens who work so tirelessly to put this show on. Thank you ladies!

In other news, Victoria Falls is progressing nicely, and I have reached the point in this painting where I need to decide the final direction it will take. Basically I have two options, the first is to continue on much like I am now with a more interpretative painting, and the second is to begin adding more substantial details to make the piece more of a translation rather than interpretation. I think I might just have to go with my gut on this one.

At least that’s what I believe. I shaved my head yesterday for the umpteenth time- no need for a photo, just imagine me with even less hair than I normally have- I do this about once a month, give or take, but this one was different. Jeremia got his hair cut for the first time yesterday too, and I thought that if he saw me with mine cut, that it would be an even less traumatic experience for him.

Turns out, what Kristina and I thought was going to be a cavalcade of high drama, he almost couldn’t have cared less about. I think even Kristina thought she was going to be more upset than she actually was- it is amazing how J can bring a calming perspective to things.

With almost no effort he went from this

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to this.

Granted, I’m sure it helped that he got it cut at this really cool kids salon, and got to sit in a plane (of all things), while watching “Madagascar” on a small TV in front of him, but even without all of that, I don’t think he would have really cared.

We even got him to give us his version of a smile when all was said and done.

It got me to thinking about the painting I’m working on

I’ve had it sketched out for several days, but have been delaying in starting it. Not out of any real fear mind you, but more wondering more why I’ve been making such a big deal out of this project. It is only paint after all.

So, I put down the first layers of base color this morning

As soon as I was finished, Jeremia came in and sat down on my lap; we stared at the painting for a minute, then he was ready to go play.

Happy day before Easter, er, Easter eve, night morning before…oh whatever, you get the idea. Normally, I would still be asleep, so I’m not exactly coherent, but I just wanted to drop a quick reminder about the Handmade Market today in Raleigh. If you’re in the area, it’d be swell to see you there.

I’ve started a new commission and it will be interesting to see if I can pull it off. Seriously. I’ve never considered myself to be much of a landscape painter, and yet that is exactly what this commission is- a large oil painting of Victoria Falls in Africa.

Its a beautiful photograph that my client shot, and I think that may be part of what makes the task so daunting. Because I was not there, I have to try and capture the power and wonder of this place using only the memory of a snapped photograph. The locals call the mist that rises from the falls, “the smoke that thunders.” This piece will certainly push me out of my mixed media comfort zone, much like I’m sure people must feel when they are actually there; that slightly uneasy but exhilarating feeling of standing at the edge of something so vast, while being held back by only fear, and grace. Will I be able to capture that using only paint?

Who knows? But here we go anyway…

I stretched the canvas earlier today, and now it waits only for the first strokes.

First however, I will sketch the landscape out to be as accurate as possible; I feel like this painting will be more of a translation rather than an interpretation. As it proceeds, I will try to keep you informed as to how it’s going.

This is not the only news however, I am continuing to work feverishly on some new pieces in preparation for the Handmade Market this weekend, and several other shows coming up fast. Here’s a quick shot of some more of my flying birds.

I’ve got an idea of how I’m going to use these, but that will be for a later time.

The last show of the winter season for us was the 52nd Winter Park Art Festival; it ran March 18-20 in Winter Park, FL. The weather was about perfect, and the location almost couldn’t have been better. It was a beautiful park in the middle of town, and there was a large area behind our booth where Jeremia could play.

He particularly liked this one tree which was perfect to climb in.

I liked being able to shoot his shadow in the late afternoon.

From our experience- don’t know if it was the same for everyone- the crowds were great, but there weren’t that many people purchasing art. For the show to be located in such an affluent area, and garnering such a prestigious reputation, we were expecting to be swamped. We were busy from time to time, just not as much as I expected.

So in between, I had plenty of chances to shoot some photos. Lately, I’ve been beginning to experiment with photographing objects, animals, and such in motion -especially birds in flight- and I think there are a lot of possibilities; especially when combined with mixed media. Here’s a piece I sold, that I hope better illustrates the point.

“Flight Study III”

My favorite shot of the weekend, at least of the birds, was this image of a pigeon taking off.

J and I had been feeding it crackers, but it would only let him get so close before it would take to the safety of the tree above our booth.

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, a lady came along randomly snapping photos and decided to take a shot or two of us.

Kristina and Jeremia were their usual, beautiful photogenic selves, whereas I was too busy yacking about some nonsense to stand still. Oh well, at least we’re all in the same photo. Often with us and family pictures, it’s like trying to herd cats…

On Sunday evening, we packed up but decided to stay an extra night at the hotel before heading home. This seems to be a theme for us, but we tend to do better with the long drives once everyone has had some rest. The next day we were back on I-95 heading north, but we quickly found a detour at Washington Oaks State Park just north of Palm Coast. Not a well known place, but it was beautiful and secluded- we practically had the place to ourselves.

Definitely the kind of driveway I’m going to get when I move out of my parents’ house.

The was a small playground where Jeremia could play, and some nice hiking trails that went around the park, so we decided to check them out.

It didn’t take long for J to find some large palm leaves-

I’m not sure if he was happier carrying them or “sweeping” with them.

He certainly was enjoying trying to whack me on the head with them as he rode on my shoulders.

We strolled around for the better part of 2 hours, but decided that it was probably time to get on the road.